Foundational stories: Videos

[Note: This is a continuation of a series of posts about the evolution of my foundational stories, which are related to the intersection between my Quaker faith, protecting Mother Earth, and photography. As is often the case, it is taking me much longer than expected to tell my foundational stories (See: https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/?s=foundational). Dramatic changes in the world have me re-evaluating how I see my Quaker faith, love of Mother Earth, and photography now. And seeking the way forward.]

There are many branches of these stories. Thus far the focus has primarily been on being a water protector, protecting Mother Earth, although my Quaker faith and photography are also parts of almost every story.

Having spent my adult life in Indianapolis, I returned to Iowa when I retired at the end of June, 2017.

But before I begin the Iowa stories, there are a couple more from Indianapolis.

I mentioned the Kheprw Institute (KI), a Black youth mentoring community I was involved with, in an earlier story about the Keystone Pledge of Resistance. KI played a huge role in my education about faith, social, racial, and environmental justice. I plan to share those stories later.

KI allowed us Keystone Action Leads to speak at a public meeting about the Keystone Resistance. Each of us spoke about why we were willing to risk arrest to stop the pipeline. We hadn’t really spoken about this before, and I was moved by what my friends said. I could tell the audience was as well.

Additionally, Ra Wyse, associated with KI, interviewed Aghilah Nadaraj (KI) and I about the Dakota Access pipeline. Following is the audio from that interview with a slideshow of photos I had taken.

Dakota Access Pipeline

Coming full circle in a way, the video below is of me talking about the Keystone Pledge of Resistance at a Dakota Access Pipeline gathering at the Indiana State Capitol in 2017. That was a moving ceremony for those of us who had been working on the Dakota Access pipeline together.